Donald Trump, former U.S. President, has insisted he made no mistake by briefly sharing a controversial video on his official Truth Social account that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.
Speaking Friday aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters he did not watch the entire clip before posting it but still does not believe an apology is necessary.
“I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said.
“I didn’t see the whole thing. I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud in the machines, how crooked it is, how disgusting it is. Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t.”
When asked whether he condemned the content of the video, Trump responded, “Of course I do.”
The video, posted late Thursday, promoted a conspiracy theory about voting machines during the 2020 election and included a racist depiction of the Obamas. It remained online for approximately 12 hours before being deleted on Friday morning, following bipartisan criticism.
The White House initially defended the post in a statement sent to reporters by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, describing it as an internet meme portraying Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. Leavitt added:
“Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Despite this, the video was eventually removed from Trump’s Truth Social account hours later.
